Product Description

The object of Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland is to successfully save the village from being turned into a resort. Construction begins in a year, so you must find a way to save your homeland before that. Unlike previous Harvest Moon titles, Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland will offer nine unique ways in which to complete your task. Thus offering nine different endings to the game!Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland focuses more att ... Read more

Features

• Make friends with over twenty characters.
• Nine endings and plenty of events make every day on the farm anything but routine!
• Cook up new meals using recipes or invent tasty homegrown concoctions in your kitchen!
• Explore an innovative not-linear game system with a bushel of subplots and entertaining story lines!!

Reviews (92)

Just one year
I have played other Harvest Moon games and I like them all, and I like this one too. The only problem is that you only get one year. In the other games, you can form lasting relationships, get married, even have kids, get divorced, remarry, etc. year after year. This one starts you from scratch after a year (you lose) or you manage to save the homeland (you win). You get to keep your stuff, but all the relationships start over. It's cool that there are different endings, but I lost interest after the second one- and that's only because I was putting up a brave face since the kids got it for me for Christmas and I didn't want them to feel bad! I was pretty disgusted the minute I realized I'd lost all the ground I'd gained just cause I beat the game.

This was particularly disappointing because I thought surely the PS2 version would have all kinds of extra side quests and fun stuff to do after the first year.

What the...!?
This game has a great concept, lots of things to do, and a cute look. Why the low score? Well, the in-game time system is, in a word, wack. I would barely get outside and get my bearings, and it would be mid-afternoon already! Then, one time, I got lost trying to find a path in the "morning", and by the time I found it (a few real-world minutes later), it was "night"!! How am I ever supposed to build a farm and save the homeland if all the stores are closed by the time I get to them!? This game could have been Animal-Crossing caliber, but instead it's just confusing and weird. Too bad. I was really looking forward to it.

An Entertaining Game
Ok, the mission to this game is to save the Homeland from being... turned into an amusement park.
You meet many characters, and experience the life of a farmer. Farmer style. You can buy chickens and cows, adopt a stray dog, and earn a trusty steed from doing great work at Bob Brownie's Part-Time job.
I recommend this game to everybody.

Huh?
This is a weird addition of Harvest Moon. It's kind of weird, but it gets away from your farm and to your homelands. There multiple endings for this game, but here's my review.

Concept- Harvest Moon on PS2 = Weird

Graphics- am I playing Dark Cloud Or Harvest Moon?

Sound- The Catchy music makes this one the Harvest Moon gamewith the best score

Playability- Easy as pie

Entertainment- Enjoyable from begining to end, but it feels a little Wierd

Replay- Moderate-High

Alex- 8.25/10

I LOVE THIS GAME!!!!
this game is so fun!!!! i love the new look of your house and animals!! ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Pokémon Crystal is to Pokémon Gold and Silver what Pokémon Yellow is toPokémon Red and Blue. It features severalminor upgrades from its predecessors, but in essence it's still the same game.The classic Pokémon formula of adventuring, collecting, and battling isat a series best with Crystal. This is one of the best and most addictiverole-playing games for the Game Boy Color.

The most notable feature is theselectable female trainer who has her own set of animations and backgrounds.This is a great option for female Pokémon fans who were previously stuckplaying the game as a male character. There are also subtle improvements to thecell phone system, HM moves, and prebattle animations. Rival trainers' phonecalls are now more plentiful and pragmatic. HM moves, which are requiredthroughout the game, are available at the push of a button--you'll no longerhave to navigate menus to use these moves. Lastly, seeing a Pokémon's newanimation makes encountering new creatures more fun than before.

If youhaven't played Gold or Silver yet, Crystal is definitelythe way to go. If you've played those previous games, Crystal has onlyenough new features to justify a purchase from Pokémon fanatics. Thisgame is compatible with the link cable, Game Boy printer, and PokémonPikachu 2. It's playable on Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance only, and can beplayed on a television using Pokémon Stadium 2 and a Transfer Pak.--Raymond M. Padilla

Pros:

• New female trainer
• Prebattle animations are cute
• Lots of subtle improvements

• Too similar to Gold and Silver
• Mobile phone features not in the U.S. version

Reviews (254)

Crystal ?, You betcha!
After the new gold and silver, Pokemon Crystal might be one of the greatest games Pokemon created. Unlike all of the revisions and new versions of Pokemon, You might want something better. What crystal allows you to do is that it is the only game to capture 90-95% of johto Pokemon wild.More things is that crystal was the first pokemon game that allows you to choose if you are a boy or a girl. You can make Pokemon hold items.You can also play in real time. After 150 Pokemon, you might think there is more. Well there is!! Crystal also includes 2 dirfferent types of Pokemon, steel and Dark. It was also the first to have these types. Bad things about crystal also means it seem to be a long game that might take forever! But can you handel 16 gym leaders through the game? However, the greatest thing Crystal can do is that you can get legendary Pokemon before the game. the badest thing for crystal is that you need to trade 27 out of 250 poke'mon.That's the number doubled of red blue or yellow!!

In all, this is a great game for long trips inside a airplane or a car.

This is really Awesome!
I like the crystal, gold, and silver line better than all the rest of the pokemon games. 1.) you have to get 16 badges, which include Jhoto, the new world and Kanto, the old world. Kanto is 4x harder too. 2) no more annoying legendary birds! 3.) eevee gets 2 new evolutions, Espeon (the best one) and Umbreon (the average one.) you can be a girl too!

My All Time Favorite
For people who have started to read my reviews I am a all time gamer, and this is my all time favorite game. This game is LOADED with stuff to do, figure out puzzles, capture pokemon, win battles and more! Here are the good and bad in my opinion:
Good
-Loaded with stuff takes a while to play (a good thing)
-So many pokemon to catch and raise
-The battles bring out the true trainer in you
-The pokemon now make noises and move when summoned
-You can choose gender
Bad
-Sometimes you can get very stuck
-Some of the puzzles need the game guide to figure out in my opinion
-The graphics aren't as good nowdays
Note that all the pokemon games are good and that I think this game appeals to all ages.

I wish people would stop writing bad reviews about Pokemon
I have grown up with Pokemon. My whole life has been spent growing up on Anime and Manga. So, I feel at home playing these games, but, this review is for G/S/C, yes all 3 of them. THESE GAMES ROCK!!! If you get bored by this game, you probably are, well, picky. Yep, picky. I mean, if you, like I, are a true Pokemon veteran, you would know that it is Nintendo and Gamefreak's duty to create a third Pokemon game that includes more than its predecessors. All Pokemon games are deeper than they look, you just have to play them long enough. Sometimes, if you train and put effort into these games, you will be satisfied and weirdly enough, attached to your Pokemon. I keep a special case full of all of my favorite GB/GBC/GBA games, and these are in it. So, who cares if Crystal is the same as G/S, these games are good enough that you can change the course of everything. So, if you are an RPG fan or a fan of the show, or anybody who plays video games (well actually, I'd say most video gamers are people who have grown up around them, so, if you didn't, this is not for you) this is the game for you. And now, for my trademark ending *Peace Out*.

"I had to see the city with my own eyes" Tidus, Final Fantasy X
P.S. There is no GB/GBC/GBA game better than the Pokemon games (ROCK ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

This is the best pokemon game
This is really the best pokemoin game, nothin' to do with Blue/Red versions, it has more things to do than Silver and gold, The story is the same, but there's some differences.
a) New female trainer (Named Jenny, Mariah, Kelis or Blu)
b) New puzzles and chambers at the Ruins of Alf
c) Suicune is easier to catch
d) When you reach to certain point in the game an ol' man gives you an egg that may contain a shiny pokemon like the red Gyarados, something like a yellow Marrill
e) More detailed graphics
d) New battle tower, ubicated near of Olivine City
Overall, the story doesn't change at all, but there's more things to do, Another thing that like me is the time.
You can set the clock as the real time. It's very important, beacause you can get pokemons only at night, or day
I wish Ruby and Saphire had a clock... ... Read more

Product Description

MODEL- 97032 VENDOR- SCEA FEATURES- Component A/V Cable for PlayStation 2For use with today's more sophisticated video equipment that allows component input from high-end gear like the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, the Component AV Cable delivers impeccable,distortion-free picture quality. This cable works with TVs and monitors that have Y, Cb/Pb, Cr/Pr inputs. If your entertainment center is ready, prepare for the leap in detail you'll see with theComponent AV Cable (for PlayStation 2).playstation.comNice electronics is your source for everyday low prices on theSony 97032 - Component AV Cable for PS2 and all other Sony Video Game Acc ... Read more

Features

• Component AV Cable delivers impeccable, distortion-free picture quality
• Works with TVs and monitors that have Y, Cb/Pb, Cr/Pr inputs
• Great for HDTV's
• Improve the video quality of your Playstation2 games
• 6 foot long cable

Reviews (36)

DEF. WORTH THE $$$
First off, i did not buy the Sony brand cable.I bought a Madcatz brand one for $14.99 from Gamestop (thats all they had).I bought this cable because i recently bought a new tv that supports component video.It is NOT an HDTV so i didn't expect it to make a huge difference, but boy was i surprised!Games/movies were sharper and the colors were richer.Def. a noticable difference.I can only imagine the quality you would get if you had an HDTV.

1080i in GT4, the only way is with these...
If you want to experiance something awesome play GT4 with these component video cables and your surround sound hooked up with Driving Force Pro as your controller. You can try out this setup at Best Buy right now. If you have an HDTV and you have 20 dollars by this. Regular SD games look crisper as well. You won't regret it.

Excellent! for FFXI the difference is awesome...
Now I can say I am playing the game! the cable literally opened my eyes to the definition of the colors and images of the game... I am using a flat screen Samsung TV and game looks awesome! {Component Cable} {Can I have it?} {Yes, Please}

Produces a Great Picture.
Prior to buying these component cables, I had been playing my PS2 with composite cable, connected through my VCR.The result of this: soft, muddy, and dull graphics.After purchasing Final Fantasy XI for my console, I heard quite a few times how the PC version is far superior visually.I had enough of my inferior video and audio experiences, so I purchased a new televsion, and these cables.The result: CRISP, CLEAN, VIBRANT images.The first time I turned on FFXI with these cables, the difference visually was as clear as day.The various imagery in the game, from trees, rocks, the sky, the terrain, and the characters pop out and are very well defined.They all seem to have the depth that I was missing all this time.The text present in the game has also become much clearer.I am proud to say that I can now enjoy this game at the same level visually as PC gamers enjoy theirs.My PS2 has gotten a major face lift.

AV ComponentvrS/Video
I just bought the component AV cable from a 3rd party company and already has the S/video cables (3rd party too) . I've read that AV component it's much better than S video, and tha's why I bought it. But is not!.AV component seems to be a little better than standard AV cables (RCA). S video gives an extraordinary brilliance to images. Video Component looks opaque, maybe Monster cables works better. In summary:
1- S/Video
2- AV component
3- Standar Av cables (rca)

Could it be 'cause they are 3rd party. ... Read more

Product Description

Take advantage of enhanced visuals, richer tactics and strategic gameplay as you build your fleet and engage in 3-D space combat. ... Read more

Features

• ESRB Rating: Teen
• Genre: Strategy
• Mission: Lose yourself in the sequel to the groundbreaking 3-D real-time space strategy game Homeworld
• Platform: Windows 98/Me/XP/2000

Reviews (146)

Very good game
This was one of if not the most fun strategy game i have played. It has an amazing story, unbelievable graphics, and an interface that once you learn it is relatively easy to use.
Tbe only reason i didnt give it a 5 is because it is so hard as to exclude this game from some of the less hardcore stategy gamers. The game does take a hit as well from not being able to order your ships into formations (an important part of any space strategy game) but it is more than compensated by just generally being alot of fun. Now i am a fan of space stategy games and i thought that the toughness of the game was an asset because insted of just building a huge fleet and crushing your enemys (satisfing but doesnt take much brain power) you could manipulate the battlefield leaving your enemy crippled and unable to fight back (buy controlling recource spots ect.) I do have to admit i went through a few mouses because i broke a few in sheer frustration. So in conclusion i highly recomend this game to you if u enjoy a tough but satisfing game and your not one of the "gamers" who like to boot up warcraft and put in all the instant build cheet codes. This game is well worth $20 and it was worth it to me when i pre ordered it in 03 for $60. BUY IT PEOPLE!!!

Fun?
I just have one thing to say: this game is as fun as you can throw it underwater with your wrists chained to some wall.Also, the interface and mere gameplay feels like an act of congress (looking up how to do things in the manual!)To be frank, don't by this game even if they would give you money in return!

Loss of The Real Concept!
Look, I've been a Homeworld fan ever since I bought it when it FIRST came out, it was beautiful, the graphics were just delightful, and the stradegy was complex to a portion where I can sit in a room, for 20 hours of non-stop harvesting and planning of an attack with a lil' math and algebra on the side.

When I started to play Homeworld 2, I was hyped, and ready to complete the saga in my world of stradegy gaming other than StarCraft, WarCraft, Age of Empires, and all those other fun stuff.

I began by downloading the Demo from Sierra, and I was full blown by the new graphics it had, though my video card was really acting kinda messy since it was the summer time. (Yeah seasonal changes make items work slower or faster.) Anyways, when I started to play the demo, I used the mechanism of the keyboard and controls of what Homeworld 1 had, lemmie tell you this, TOTALLY DIFFERENT! I can't believe my eyes of what I felt and seen! Everything; the whole concept has changed, the keys and etc. Then I saw that the stradegies have changed, and there were only 3 formation patterns I could only choose for my fithers, I'm like, WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE THEY THINKING!? I really wanted to bust a few chops with my strategic mind... so then I thought to myself, eh, not bad, lemmie get the whole game and see what it's really worth...

Bought it, it's totally the same concept, doesn't relate to Homeworld 1, doesn't relate to ANYTHING LIKE HOMEWORLD AT ALL! I thought that they would stick to their story, but the whole thing changed... I was really mad about it.

The game-play suddenly became boring, just traveling with no real dog-fight, "Some destiny this is..." ok, maybe a few dog-fights, but the game just gets harder and harder *like any other game* But I'm looking at it, I swear to you, I would've beaten all these fools if I had all those formation patterns. This game has less stradegy in mind, and the shipmaking, is just build in bulk, something that a gamer would NEVER LIKE. Listen, usually, it's always great to build ONE AT A TIME... WHY!? BECAUSE HAVING THAT FEELING TO SIT ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT WAITING FOR THAT SPECIAL OBJECT TO BE BUILT REALLY SHOWS THAT IT'S A GREAT GAME. This however, was truly dissappointing... No wonder it was 20 bux. Not many people like it! For God's sake even Diablo 2 is 20 times better than this and the graphics can be as horrible as they want, but their game play is just completely mind blowing as well as the story line.

For all kids that love graphics, I suggest this game as a STARTER, but for gaming stradegy and story lines, I suggest that you should TURN BACK, THERE'S NOTHING TO SEE BUT A GAME THAT TAKES 20 HOURS OF YOUR LIFE JUST SITTING AND WAITING FOR NOTHING, BUT RUNNING AWAY FROM YOUR ENEMIES.

Even Homeworld Cataclysm is better than this. I wouldn't call this game trash though, but would've worth a lot of money if they knew how to bring back the story line as what they were before, but spiced up, with more allies and enemies, and probably if Sierra was lucky, deception.

Wonderful Game
Before I start, I would suggest anyone who gets this game be sure to download the patch that has been made available.This balances out units a little better (not too much, but a little) and also decreases the difficulty of several of the missions (they are possible to beat without the patch, but they are hard).

This game builds wonderfully over the orrignal Homeworld.It has made several improvements in how things are handled and also polishes up things in general.In addition, unlike the orrignal Homeworld the different sides have very different strengths and weaknesses that are readily apparent when playing them.

Some nice additions:

You no longer build single fighters, but rather build fighters in wings.So long as a single fighter in the wing survives you can send the fighter group back to a carrier or mothership or shipyard and have the unit returned to full strength.This makes fighter units much more useful and practical then the frail things they were in Homeworld.

Resource collection at the end of missions has been automized.You will no longer have to sit around for hours after missions sending harvisters out to collect resources for you.Once all enemy units have been defeated all resources in the map are automatically collected and added to your resource pool.

Subsystems.You can now build subsystems that give your ships interesting capabilities as well as target enemy subsystems.Large ships (such as battle crusers, carriers, motherships) come with some standard subsystems that cannot be completely destroyed but can be dammaged to the point that they no longer function.This makes hit and run type attacks much more useful then they were previously since you can use them to dammage enemy capabilities or cripple enemy ships, while allowing access to some nice abilities should you chose to build some of the more unique subsystems.

The ability to capture any ship in the game has also been added.That is right, capture ANY ship in the game.Including motherships.In addition, the units which capture enemies are much less flimsy so while they do still need an escourt they can be counted on to not die immediately.

Fleet formations have also been added.While there are really only 3 choises for fleet formations, they really do make it easy to use ships of different classes together.When used properly these formations are extreamly powerful, however you need to learn when to use a formation and when to break it up.

There are a few things I am less than satisfied with however.It is for these reasons that I am only giving it a rating of 4 out of 5.

The first major thing I was disapointed with was the reduction on the number of formations.I remember that with the orrignal Homeworld there was a large number of fomrations to chose from.I kept wishing I had access to some of those, particularly the claw and the sphere.While it may be argued that the addition of fleet formations makes up for this change, I couldn't help but wish that I had access to many of the old formations.

The interface is something I am not 100% satisfied with as well.While I will agree that it is definately a step up from what was used with Homeworld, it does feel somehow cumbersome.I guess it is a function of too many menues when it comes to building units and researching.Even in this respect it isn't too bad though.

Also, the 3D nature of space has largely been ignored.This problem still existed in Homeworld, though it was a little less noticable there since they did fairly often launch surprise attacks from above or below.Homeworld 2 largely just uses the horozontal plane when it comes to combat.Units controled by the AI simply will not try coming from strange directions, but rather take a head on approach.Thankfully I was able to find a group of people to play with online who were not burdened with this problem.

My final real problem with Homeworld comes with the addition of a new unit: the shipyard.The reason for this has to do with multiplayer where its importaince overshadows even that of the mothership once it has been built.It has more subsystem slots than the mothership.It is the only unit which can build battlecruisers.It has all the capabilities that the mothership has and more.From a stand point of game ballance I can see why this may have happened (the game designers didn't want players skipping ahead in the research tree right to battlecruisers), however I cannot help but feel that if anything the shipyard should be more of a smaller mothership with more limited capabilities.Somewhere between a carrier and the mothership.

All that said, the game is still a wonderful game.It contains almost all of the orrignal Homeworld's good points, and gets rid of many of its bad ones with the introduction of few flaws.If you like the idea of controling an intergalatic battle fleet then I would definately suggest that you pick up this game.The campaign alone would be worth it, but multiplayer is where this game really shines since that is where you will see interesting tatics that can be used once the pesky notion of 2D is forgotten.

Visually stunning but shocking game play
In light of completing Homeworld 2 twice, the review is a brutal truth of what the game is---a game so challenging, so hard, it just simply isn't worth your bother. Ordinary gamers will derive no enjoyment from this. In a manner of words: this is a game with spectacular graphics, breathtaking naval fleet warfare, all hampered by arduous game play.

Fifteen missions long, the average player will find themselves struggling by just the fourth, if you finished the third by the skin of your teeth. Rapidly changing mid-mission objectives, wave after wave of enemy forces, you'd better be up to the challenge of preventing your shipyard from hostile takeover to graduate to the real fun.

Then mission 4 hits you, hard and heavy.

Players are simply not prepared so early in the game, after such breezy missions, for one of such difficulty. Continual enemy attacks never leave you alone, never giving you a breather, to collect resources, to replenish your ragtag fleet. Don't grin that smile yet, that massive frigate assault will wash it away. There's no time to get a feel for ship classes, what works best against which enemy unit, to experiment on new technologies. Took a stunning number of weeks to beat that mission alone. Just concentrate on bombers and pulsar corvettes and she'll be right mate. Homeworld 2, it seems, is one heavy mission after another, broken up by occasional missions so quiet you could sleep through them. Those restful missions would be ideal to build your fleet to full strength and maximum unit numbers.

A detrimental mistake!

An unbelievable attribute of the game---the stronger you are, the heavier the next mission's enemy forces will be. The astounding stupidity of this is simply shocking. Try full unit limits from the tenth mission onwards, when enemy forces are already considerable, you'll see. This isn't so bad, really, but it makes hill into mountain.

Homeworld 2 is a RTS game of its own, nothing like Starcraft-type games. Even the hardest Starcraft mission gave you time to rebuild a weakened army, fix your base up. You could explore the darkened map, tease the enemy from different sides. H2 won't let you do that. This game demands strict obedience to the mission objectives. You play to fulfil them, not your own agenda.

Even more absurd, whatever forces you have left you begin with next mission. Scrape a mission too finely, and what are your chances of survival, really, when come the enemy hordes, and come in numbers they will.

What H2 steals from you is enjoyment. This is for the determined player. Who doesn't want a challenge in a game? But it's not fun. Move! You can't sit idle at any time; you can't split your fleet up, to feint at an enemy base from different angles. You want to live, keep all eggs in one fleet.

The menu controls are shocking. Mouse scrolling doesn't work in H2. It takes valuable time to position and drag the tab down the page. You can't even press ENTER or ESCAPE keys, only mouse commands. Such is the Idiotic Intelligence of the developers, that you can't authorise commands with an ENTER tap. The screen panels where you click to load or save games are so slim you really have to position your mouse precisely over them.

The method of saving is a joke. Strict alphanumerical order, the starting letter or number determines its placement in the list. It's better to save games chronologically, like Starcraft and Jedi Outcast. In-game auto-saving works against you; replay a mission, and you might re-save over it.

Where in the game booklet does it say docked strike craft automatically repair? A tiny offhand mention in the Vaygr Battlecruiser. How would you think to dock your fighters when you need them active at all times?

Absurd to target warship subsystems (engines, weapons, etc) when destroying the ship takes just as long. Absurd to capture an enemy ship, not only from your strict unit numbers, but the ship will always target your marine frigate. Played game twice, still can't get cloaking technology.

Like viewing a sphere of blinking red and green dots all game long? You'll spend considerable time looking at your radar screen; it's the only way to see enemy units and positions, and easier to select targets.

Graphics are awesome, ship details commendable. Mouse-wheel scrolling permits easy panning and rotation of the camera angle. Fun to follow a bomber group on their attack runs, or zoom right in at besieged warships about to be missile volleyed. High comp system will avert the occasional slowdown when camera-close to a ship going nova; exploding capital ships are cool.

Mid- and inter-mission cutscenes are simple but satisfactory. Fleet Command voices sounds too similar; Makaan is chilling as the Vaygr warlord, smooth and polite.

Game music will become repetitive. Only two tracks stand out: the oriental Hindu-like music of the Keeper missions, and that brief heavy battle track in missions 9 and 12. Hammered by endless Vaygr fleets, your heart pounding as you brawl for survival, why the damn hell did they finish after two minutes? Superb and haunting, they rapidly faded back to that mundane battle music.

There is nothing special about mysterious Sajuuk, the one hope of your homeworld. Can't spoil you here, but the game designers are criminal fools to make the guy just that. And if that doesn't inspire your outrage, behold the short, simplistic final cutscene of the game.

This is Homeworld 2. Visually stunning, rigid game play design. You'd do well to think long and hard before sampling this farce of fun. All fine and fancy to spout rave reviews and the shine the five-star flag, but honest and informative feedback goes a long way to whisper the truth. ... Read more

Product Description

John F. Mullins Major, United States Army Special Forces (retired) John Mullins was born and raised in Oklahoma, living on the farm settled by his grandfather upon the opening of the Kiowa/Comanche reservation. Upon graduation from high school at the age of 17, he joined the U.S. Army. After basic and advanced training he volunteered for airborne training, becoming a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division. Soon thereafter he was recruited for Special Forces, becoming a medic on an "A" ... Read more

Features

• Enhanced Quake III Arena game engine
• 20+ military-grade weapons
• Immersive storyline with real-world locations, including Columbia, Switzerland, Hong Kong and many-more.
• GHOUL II Technology for ultra-realistic damage modeling
• Advanced AI

Reviews (18)

Crispy Game
I was almost going to give this game five stars because it was really good. duh
First, let's get a few things straight.The guns in the game are sweet.In first person shooter games I think that most people would agree that the gun design is important.Well these guns are serious as in Serious Sam.
The gore is extreme, and I am going to leave that up for you to decide wheter that is bad or good.You can turn it off or tone it done though. The models in the game are very good and very fun to shoot because of their juicyness.And I think that the graphics are very nice onmost of the levels.Some people thought that the story was confusing, but I thought that it was very interesting.
The bad things about this game would be the bugs, and the times where they don't tell you what to do next in the level.Overall, I think that it is a good buy.Also, the demo doesn't do the full game justice.

the most awesome, yet graphic game ever

My opinion on this game is that it is GREAT!!! this is simply because it combines a good story line with heart pounding action and well lots of blood and gore. which video games are all about

A Lengthy and Awe-Inspiring Action Game!
Yea, this game is gorey.Once you kill (many different ways to kill him/her) a terrorist, you can basically, at your leisure, just shoot the crap out these enemies.Once the limbs are eliminated, you will begin to see their lungs--no lie.It's that gorey.But it is great fun to watch!

Just like Soldier of Fortune 1, you will explore levels situated from dense Vietnamese jungles to a remote ship out on the Atlantic Ocean, from the Airport Terminal to Japanese urban streets.From mantions to massive mantions.Lots of variety.Also, for each level where you combat outdoors, it's either raining/snowing or just plain clear.In the beginning of one level where you enter the large virus-producing (discuss later) lab., it's like 50 degrees below zero, and terrorists aren't expecting you.

I love the music in this game.When on the main menu, you're greeted with orchestrated music, that sounds very suspenceful but critical music.You'll know what I mean when you hear it.Also, each level has slow-paced and fast-paced music.Each pace changes when the mood changes--what I mean is:fast, suspenceful music when you're in danger, and vice versa.I love the mantion level music, probably the best orchestrated music--kind of sounds like Medal of Honor, WWII type music.

Weapons range from a sidearm to the UZI, to an AK47, to an ultra-powerful shotgun.Grenades are awesome.Choose from either phosphorus (eye-blinding), stun (loud/bright) or flame (destroys objects and flames up stuff)grenades---and then you have your regular explosive grenades--NOT that the others DON'T explode also--they do explode.

The story is about John Mullins trying get face to face to Promethius and his connections with the illegally-operated labs that are producing a fatal virus that will kill everyone, which you will notice after the Vietnam level, where you're in a small city with sick people regurgitating.

Taylor, a partner of John Mullins, and Sam, John's advisor, are in the game.However, later in the game, after the ship in the ocean, when you fly back to the "the Shop" or headquarters in outskirts of NYC for a mission breifing, the 2-storey building partially explodes because of an "inside job".There's a fire, and must rescue Sam and bring him to the awaiting ambulance.I liked that part.

I have a GeForce FX 5200, 768 MB RAM while playing SOF2, and there are instances of slow-down, but not drastic but somewhat noticeable.However, that only occurs if there are many objects and buildings in the background, of course.You can also adjust the graphics settings to make it faster.

There are many reasons why you should get Soldier of Fortune 2.Excellent, driven plot; realistic graphics like eye-candy; sounds great on my computer; gameplay is excellent with unlimited gorey scenes; there are also great scenes of destruction, too.

Jeff

an addicitve fun, smart blood bath
i got in the habbit of staying up all night playing this. The gore is excellent, the violence is off the hook, the multiplayer looks like alot of fun even though i haven`t tried it yet. dont realy have any complaints about this one except the graphics.

Great single player game!
In comparison, this game is like Jedi Knight 2. The singleplayer is a fun and interesting expierience. The main characters are incredibly alike, and the graphics are alike. The multiplayer consists off pushing guys over and doing backslashes in jedi knight 2. That was a fault in jedi knight 2 that led alot of people to different games. This game has a problem with multiplayer as well. Namely... the people. There are so many little kids that believe themselves kings of the online gaming world that it is pathetic. The multiplayer brings nothing new to the table except when you play the outdoor maps. Namely the large ones with weeds and houses. Those are the best maps as you can hide in a house and guys are hiding all over the place. There are people hiding in the grass sometimes ambushing you or people in buildings waiting behind doors. Other than that, most of the levels get boring. Most of them.

The single player is truly an expierience. Jedi Knight 2's was fun, but this game has a great thing going with the GHOUL II engine. You basically dismember your opponents. Sometimes it's fun, others it can be a little gruesome. Namely guys falling over holding their arm sockets. On one hand though, it does make the game feel real, and fun. I The single player also has stealth. It's okay. There are some problems with steath that make it kinda boring.

The weapons are pretty cool too. The shotgun is fun, but what's cooler is customizing your pistol with laser sight and silencers. Now, the light attatchment would be cool if the editors made the light a little less bright. You can basically illuminate the land for a mile and have no enemy realize your existence. There's also some nice nades that are fun to use.

The singleplayer portion is the reason to buy this game. Multiplayer is rather dull and feels meaningless most of the time. That's why there's counter-strike. If you are expecting anything really new about multiplayer.... It is too easy. I haven't played multiplayer in a year or two. I logged on a big sniper server yesterday and was 58 17. It was almost laughable at how veterans of cs will excel in Solider of Fortune 2. If you haven't played cs than SOF2 is a fun multiplayer expieirience I would say.

There are also some bugs in the game. You may shoot a guy and bullets will go through. This is extremely rare and sometimes happens when he is running. There are also other things you'll see that don't crash the game, but they certainly tell you alot about SOF2's testing team. In one part a prisoner is holding an uzi, then he kills the guard and picks the uzi up again. It looks really stupid because the testers should of caught that.

Anyways, this game is a solid investment. If you enjoy the ability to fully dismember your foes then get this game. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

You don't have to be a hard-core gamer to notice that innumerable--not tomention impressive--role-playing games (RPGs) have been released for the SonyPlayStation. Although the fourth installment in the Breath of Fire seriesis a fine RPG, it's doesn't quite hold a flame to the best of the aforementionedalternatives.

Breath of Fire IV is a single-player game that continues the story withthese "dragon people," who gave their lives to eradicate the evil goddess andrestore peace in their world. This time around, battle has broken out betweentwo powerful continents, and the fair Princess Elena has disappeared during atour of the war-torn region. The princess's sister, Nina, who reigns o'er theWindia Kingdom, vows to retrieve her missing sibling. She meets Ryu along theway, who joins the epic quest.

Breath of Fire IV's gameplay is refreshingly simple, with only a fewminor additions to its predecessor's battle system. Most noticeably, a new combosystem lets spells dish out more damage than when cast alone, by working inconjunction with other spells. As before, Ryu can transform into a dragon orhybrid half-human, half-dragon creature to gain special attack powers. The partywill pick up other drifters throughout the game, some of whom have the power totransform.

Each town opens up a new set of subquests and minigames (yup--there's anotherfishing game here, folks), both of which add longevity and replayability toBreath of Fire IV, although not everyone will appreciate the mandatorynature of these diversions.

Like many Japanese-bred RPGs, the musical score and crisp sound effects areexcellent, but there is very little voice talent in the game. In all, Breathof Fire IV is a solid, although not fantastic, RPG. --Todd Mowatt

Pros:

• Solid story
• Effective battle system
• Extraordinary musical score

• Average graphics
• Sometimes-awkward control and camera angles

Features

• Search the war-torn regions to find the princess in this fantasy RPG
• More than 200 spells to learn and master
• Higher resolution characters in a vast 3D world
• Two epic intertwining storylines
• For 1 player

Reviews (33)

A Grave Disapointment
When I bought this game I expected something as good as BOF III or better. Sadly it turns out this game is the Mystic Quest (for those familiar with the Final Fantasy series) of the BOF RPG's. Since I only paid 16 dollars including shipping I don't feel too bad, but I can recomend this game only for completist collectors unless you can get it for what I paid or less. If you have an old Super Nintendo game box and don't have BOF and BOF II, get them first, they're better.

Breath of Fire Review and conclusion (By Steven Lawrie)
For a PS1 game this rules! Graphics are good (For a PS1 game) loads of spells to learn, hundreds of enemies to beat, good storyline, can carry loads of items, lots of possibiltes and the list goes on! Plus the game is long not a puny 5 level game and that's it! this game lasts! A must have!

This is a very fun and cool game...
I'd say that this is a very fun and interesting game. The sidequests are good, because it makes the game even longer. The only thing about this game that many people don't like, is the camera settings. People say that they can be very frustrating. The music for this game is great. The themes for the variety of towns is fantastic! The battle system is pretty good too. You can learn different abilities from enemies by gaurding. If the name of the attack appears in blue, then that means it can be learned, but it may take some time to learn it. All the characters in this game are all skilled fighters, so you might want to rotate which ones you'll use. Also, everyone will get the same amount of experince points (EXP) after a battle. Hope this review helped!

To me, this is one of the best games I have ever played! I hope you buy it, becuase you'll love it!

Improves with Age...
When I bought BOF IV on its release, I was thoroughly unimpressed with the simple plot and rather poor graphics.

However, being (as I am) temporarily broke, with the prospect of any new PS 2 games being but a distant horizon-blip, I decided to give it another go, and I have to say, I am delighted I did.

BOF IV is not a game about technical bedazzlement or complicated quests with much philosophising. It is not a Final Fantasy game! Nor, in fifteen years' time, will it be remembered as a Classic, like the FInal Fantasies. But it's still an excellent homage to the early days of RPGs like Shining Wisdom, the original Zelda, and The Legend of Oasis games.

Briefly, the plot: Cray and Princess Nina are investigating the disappearance of Nina's sister Elina, when they run across Ryu, a strange boy with no past and no direction. Their quest to find Elina and give Ryu a life takes them across several continents, accumulating a cast of memorable characters and unravelling a plot that involves Dragons, Civil War and theological Entities.

What I am most impressed with is the simplicity and clarity with which BOF IV plays. Stylishly retro, the graphics are actually rather good - with more frames of animation and bigger, brighter characters than before - and some lovely spell effects. Everything is drawn in real-time, and the option to rotate the camera a full 360 degrees compensates much for the lousy camera angles one often runs across.

The control system, too, is very easy to get to grips with and user-friendly - spells and abilities are learned and interchangeable - and the Combo system is a nice, innovative touch.

The characters are decent, well-thought out personalities, but lack diversity. So far, so good.

Sadly, BOF IV, like Onimusha after it, is just a little too far entrenched on the side of 'mundane' to be a truly memorable classic. It does take a good three or four hours of play time before the plot and characterisation picks up and by this time, you may well be unable to forgive the game its rather uninspiring opening. Similarly confusing, and dull, are the playable early sections starring Fou-Lu, the Laguna Loire to Ryo's Squall. Like the rest of the game, thankfully, these sections get progressively better, and by the end, you'll have formed an affectionate attachment to BOF IV.

All in all, an excellent little title with one or two sadly fatal flaws that keep it from being a Classic, BOF IV is a definite reccommendation if you can get it cheap...

a cool game
this game is almost like Suikodin in this game you is two different kind of people one of the side are good the other side is evil that's becuase both of them saperate form each other and they both are dragons. ... Read more

Features

• Fight combinations of characters from all over the Marvel and Capcom universes
• Marvel characters include: Spider-Man, Captain America, and Wolverine
• Capcom characters include: Street Fighters Ryu, Chun Li, and Zangief
• Choose from 22 characters
• For 1 or 2 players

Reviews (36)

A Quality Playstation port of the arcade
Don't listen to most bashing this game,most are only doing so because they are trying to compare this title Nose-to-nose with the perfect arcade and dreamcast versions.Indeed this version cannot compete with those but its still a decent conversion and a TRUE feat of the Playstation hardware,considering its limited abilities due to lack of RAM.

Flashback to around 98' with the release of X-Men Vs StreetFighter for the PSOne,indeed it was'ent too great.Nevermind the lack of tag team the characters also had a limited amount of animation and there was slowdown.The title was still very playable but they could've done much better.

Since then Capcom learned their lesson and fine-tuned the PSOne to run such games smoothly.Marvel SuperHeroes Vs StreetFighter was an especially nice port and so is MvC.

The graphics are colorful and flashy with most of the backgrounds and effects during supermoves retaining much of their animation.The characters themselves look great and are also given a nice amount of animation.The gameplay is Fast and fun with little to no slowdown of any kind,even during screen filling supermoves.

Had the game retained true tag-team play this title would definitly be a winner as the graphics and action are all Excellent.But unfortunitly even the best game developers can only do so much with the systems limited RAM.As in Previous Vs games the main battle mode only allows 1-on-1 fighting.Though its still very fun for those who can look past the tagteam gameplay.

However there is crossover mode-Which allows Tagteam gameplay with the only difference being that you have to choose the same two characters as the CPU.It can get old fighting mirror versions of your two fighters but the mode otherwise replicates the Arcade versions gameplay very well.

While its no substitute,this version actually contains features not found in the otherwise Perfect dreamcast version.The PSX port allows you to play as Onslaught in both normal and giant forms! Very cool. The game also lets you save and view character endings for later and there is a section that allows you to view and get a good look at each of the special partner characters like Authur and Unknown Soldier.

Overall Marvel Vs Capcom for the PSOne,is a polished,Nice-Quality port retaining about 85% of the Arcade version.If you have a dreamcast you obviously won't want to bother with this port but if you don't have a DC and own a Playstation/PS2,this game is still a fine substitute.

Awesome
Ok let me tell u now this game is awesome. I played it in a arcade and i got hooked and begged my parents to get me it off the net.And trust me when i got it a year ago rite off amazon it was not cheap (50 bucks!!)anyway this game is alittle different from the arcade because you dont have a team with two people its just another guy that does a little attack every time u call them in.SOme of u might say thats the best part and ur right but its still a great game get this game if u can!

Not all that great
If you've played any of Capcom's 2D fighter CPS2-to-PlayStation conversions lately, then you already know what to expect from the PlayStation version of Marvel vs. Capcom. While the arcade (and, subsequently, the arcade-perfect Dreamcast conversion) supplied a four-fighter tag-team battle, the PlayStation's RAM limitation limits the battle to two fighters. Also, many frames of animation have been chopped out, particularly those for larger characters. Marvel vs. Capcom is the latest incarnation of Capcom's Street Fighter vs. series. But here, instead of limiting the characters to X-Men or Street Fighters, Capcom has taken characters from all over the Marvel and Capcom universes. Marvel is represented by new additions like Venom and Onslaught, as well as fighting-game veterans like Spider-Man, Captain America, and Wolverine. Capcom's lineup includes Street Fighters Ryu, Chun Li, and Zangief, but also nonfighting characters like Captain Commando, Strider Hiryu, and Mega Man. The result is an ultimate (albeit a bit condensed) lineup of fighters from all over the place. This cross section of comic-book heroes and video-game characters gives the game a truly new and diverse feel, even if the gameplay hasn't changed too much since the last Capcom vs. fighting game, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter.
Some remnants of the tag battle remain. You still select a second character, but that character's only influence on the battle is in the form of short, special attacks. The arcade game actually had you select three fighters, one of whom served as a helper character that you could call on at any time for a quick attack. Now, you select your main fighter and then choose if you want one of these helpers, or a second normal fighter that will join up with you and perform team super combos, should you issue the command to do so. To make up for the loss of the tag action, the ability to link multiple super combos has been added. This lets you really rack up the multihit combos and do a lot of damage to your opponent, to boot. Graphically, the game really doesn't look too bad, taking into consideration the limitations of the hardware. The game is colorful, and the backgrounds are nice. New to the PlayStation version is a quick zoom that occurs during throws. This is a little disorienting, and the characters get pretty pixelated up close as well. The audio portion of the game is troublesome. Everything sounds extremely tinny, and the trebley sound and music will get on your nerves almost immediately.If you're looking for the arcade version, you really need to go to an arcade or pick up the Dreamcast version. The PlayStation version may have the same moves as the original game, but the shell surrounding those moves is completely different. Rent this one first.

Old, but awesome
If you're going to waste your life playing 2-d fighting games, and can't find Marvel vs Capcom 2, waste your life on this game.It rocks.

Arcade Style Fighting.
Marvel VS Capcom is an arcade style fighting game featuring some of the biggest names from the worlds of Marvel and Capcom.Everyone from Mega Man to Spiderman.For someone who wants to just sit down and fight it out with some amazing moves, this is the game for you!I will admit that fighting the computer can be difficult at times.The special moves allow some characters to just cream you in 30 seconds or less.Other than that, the graphics are great, the sound is good, and the choice of characters is absolutely amazing.This is a must-have for any Playstation gamer. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

One of two new Zelda games for the Game Boy Color, TheLegend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages is geared towards the cerebralgamer, with its heavy focus on puzzle solving. The Triforce has alertedLink to trouble in the land of Labrynna, where the evil sorceress Veranhas possessed Nayru, the Oracle of Ages. Veran travels back in time,setting up events that lead to a world where evil dominates. It's up toyou to help Link stop Veran and set things straight.

Game mechanics and menus are similar to those found inLink'sAwakening, also for the Game Boy. As in almost every Zeldagame, you have to traverse eight dungeons and find eight key items. Theharp of time is vital to your quest--it's required to manipulate eventsand stop Veran's rewriting of history.

Although this game is extremely enjoyable on its own, you'll want touse it in conjunction with its sister title:Oracle ofSeasons. After you complete one game, you'll be given apassword that lets you begin with all your items, statistics, andprogress intact in the other. Certain characters will appear only byplaying both games. By using a link cable, players can trade items.Game Boy Advance users will find a store that's exclusive to them.

While this is an excellent game, it might be too complicated foryounger gamers or those looking for mindless fun. --Raymond M.Padilla

Pros:

• Dozens of crafty puzzles
• Great as a standalone; outstanding in conjunction with its sistergame
• Nice bonuses for Game Boy Advance owners

• Lots of reused sound effects from previous Zelda games
• Longtime gamers might find the story and level design contrived
• Be prepared for many puzzle-induced headaches

Reviews (103)

Best game ever
This game is awesome beyond all of the zelda series.It has a excellent story line and is perfect,.

Legend of Zelda:Oracle of Ages.......
One thing I absolutely despise about alot of Gameboy games, anymore, is how you have to buy them in twos just to be able to finish them. Such is the case with Legend of Zelda:Oracle of Ages & Oracle Seasons.Originally planned as a trilogy, this two-part adventure is exceptionally good which is why I highly recommend that you add them to your collection.
It all begins in Oracle of Ages. Veran(The Sorceress of Shadows) kidnaps Nayru(The Oracle of Ages). Because Link feels directly responsible for her kidnapping(as you find out while playing the game), he sets out to find her and save her. With the Harp of Ages, he travels between the past and present meeting familiar faces (some of which you'll recognize from Ocarina of Time)in his effort to make things right. That's when the storyline deepens and the fun truly begins. Rest assured, though, he's not alone in this one. Along the way, he enlists the help of Moosh, Dimitri, and Ricky.
Out of two games, in my opinion- this is the harder game of the two...but the most rewarding. I think Capcom did an outstanding job with their first effort in the Zelda series and I hope Nintendo continue to let them develop future installments for the Gameboy and the Gameboy Advance.
Again, I highly recommend you add these games to your collection. They're awesome.

The series just get better with every new game!!!!
I like Ages because it has lots of puzzles. I love puzzles better than fighting, so I chose this game as a favorite beacuse the storyline is really clear and has great sounds and graphics. I'm not saying Seasons is bad, though. The best part in when you link up, because you really get more out of your games. I would recommend Ages to anyone that loves puzzles.

ZELDA ROCKS
I have ALWAYS LOVED Zelda, and this is one of thebest of their games so far! I couldn't stop playing it!

Zelda almighty
It is surprising how every new Zelda game is fresh and distinct in its own ways, yet still maintains the Zelda charm. Oracle of Ages does just that. It takes the tried and true system of Link's Awakening and adds new gameplay, weapons, abilities, and increasingly clever (and often times difficult) puzzles. Come to think of it, this is probably the best Zelda on Game Boy. It's a little easier than Oracle of Seasons, which is good, and it has much more zest to it than Link's Awakening did. Of course, it has its problems AS A GAME BOY GAME, but the Zelda Game Boy series seems almost entirely separate from other consoles. And in that sense, Oracle of Ages is a must have. Ideal for those long, weary vacations. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

You have video games, but now you can move on to the next level with video game enhancement. Every time you get stuck on a level, can'tbeat a difficult boss, or run out of ammunition, GameShark 2 is there for you. Infinite health, infinite lives, all weapons, all characters,all vehicles, and much more--it's all yours at the press of a button. And, as a special incentive, GameShark 2 includes a bonus CD crammed with codes for your PS One. New codes are always available for every game that hits the shelves at www.gameshark.com. ... Read more

Reviews (106)

problems?
i've read alot of purchasers saying the gameshark 2 for the ps2 is a bad investment.if you asked me 2 years ago i would have agreed.through owning one original gameshark and all the version up grades (3 so far) i've found that it depends on both the version of your gameshark and your ps2.the first ps2 i bought died a year after i got it, i still don't know what happened but it wasn't the gameshark, it was hardware.the second one has last a year and is running great even with a gameshark plugged in all the time.be smart, read as much as possible on every purchase, and ask the people who own them and you can get the right information to figure out if this is an investment you're willing to make.point 1:the first two gameshark 2 versions were crap.the stalled out all the time, erased your memory card, and never played any code except the ones from the factory.version 3 was the first one with the keyboard and had absolutely no problems.point 2: the people that say the codes don't work now are using version 4 codes on a version 3 gameshark, more than likely.if you want something to stay away from i can give it, the non-sony memory codes are worthless, they will erase your memory when taken from their ports.there, i've given alot of ideas on what to do to keep your bum covered, have a great day.

wellllllllll
It has helped alot but I have gotten 4 errors before.
sllowage, drain, unbalenceness, and stalling.
BUT, when I was toggling with the system I put the speed & proformance (quality) to high and changed the version to 9.0.
and I haven't had a problem since.If you don't know how to do this I suggest you don't buy a gameshark 2.

Game Shark is no good!
After finding that the game shark really doesn't work as advertised. After reading instructions, no cheat codes seemed to work, and the performance of my PS2 went way down. I tried to return and could not get my money back and now am going to only shop where companies offer satisfaction guarantees.

I feel ripped off!

Listen Up
I got the gameshark for my PS2... my PS2 was working fine until I stuck this thing in here.Go to websites to get cheats... almost as good.I don't care what anyone says.This thing is NOT good for your systems.I spoke to a professional and he said the reason my PS2 stopped working was probably becuase of the Gameshark.... there could be no other reason... beside the fact that it is a poorly manufactured system (which I seem to disagree with).

Take a risk and this is still good to have.If you're lucky, it might not wreck your system.Look into it before buying it.

Anyway... to review it:

It has all of the cheats known to man.It is really cool, but remember the risk.

Good luck...

gameshark 2
listen to me, if you bought a ps2 in america after 1/4/04 in the US some versions of GS2 dont work on ps2. If you bought it before then it should work just fine. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Vagrant Story is one of those games that wows you at thestart--a big "WOW!" in this case--but maintains only a tenuous hook inthe long haul. In this mix of action/adventure and fantasy role-playing,players are cast as a Riskbreaker (think one-man army) namedAshley Riot, whose pursuit of a villainous cult leader takes him to themysterious city of Lea Monde.

The highly stylized graphics in Vagrant Story are easily some ofthe best ever seen on the PlayStation, and give the game a gorgeous,distinctive look to match its somber tone. Cinematic story sequencesblend in almost seamlessly with gameplay, which takes place in 3-Denvironments (viewed from a third-person perspective) that can berotated to provide the best angle.

Vagrant Story features a rich battle system that's built on bothstrategy and quick reflexes. In addition to character statistics,weapons and armor have detailed numbers of their own and can bedisassembled, assembled, or even combined to create new items. Hand/eyecoordination factors heavily into combat, as Ashley develops offensiveand defensive battle abilities that require perfectly timed buttonpushing in order to be used.

Unfortunately, it's all too easy to get bored with VagrantStory. The painfully linear gameplay here doesn't rise abovekilling enemy after enemy in room after room, and (oh boy!) solvingpuzzles by manipulating boxes. If not for the wholly intriguing (butsparsely littered) plot, one would be strongly tempted just to leaveAshley to rot in the catacombs beneath Lea Monde. --Joe Hon

Pros:

• Highly stylized graphics
• Rich battle system
• Intriguing plot

• Shallow, linear gameplay

Features

• Good mix of action/adventure and fantasy role-playing
• Rich battle system
• For 1 player
• You are Ashley Riot, in pursuit of a villainous cult leader
• Highly stylized graphics and cinematic story sequences

Reviews (96)

Best Dungeon Crawler that i've played
If you want to know if this game is good or not without having to read paragraph upon paragraph just read this review. Bottem line is is that if you have some sort of Dungeon crawler fetish this is your thing. It's a dungeon crawler with heavy RPG elements and thats it. So if you like box puzzles (many many) and demons and such (many many). Not to mention that all you ever do is do the to of the above (no mini-games or diversion or nothing!) then this games for you (only one paragraph! ha:)

One of the Greatest Games Ever Made for Fantasy Fans
Recently on G4 Tech TV I was watching "Filter", and they were counting down the top 10 underrated games of all time, and to my amazement and joy, Vagrant Story was rated the #1 most underrated game ever. There could be no title more worthy, and it saddens me that it has a 4 star average here on Amazon, though it's not really suprising.

Vagrant Story was one of the final Square games to come out for the PS1, and went by almost unnoticed. I didn't actually play it until it was a couple of years old. The graphics are without doubt some of the best ever seen on the PS1. I wish we could have had voice overs in this game, but such things were still pretty uncommon on the PS1. The sound is very good, light on music and heavy on creepy, atmospheric sound effects that really enhance the feeling of being lost in the huge mazes of buildings, tunnels, and dungeons.

As it is, the dialogue is absolutely exceptional, and the story is complex, twisting, and really makes you think. Good and evil end up not being quite what you think they are. The story has a heavy emphasis on a religious, crusader/inquisition type group of characters, as well as incorporating sorcery and magic. I could never explain how great the story and characters of this game are...it's just magical. The world just sucks you in.

The entire game takes place in an old abandoned ghost town on an island called Lea Monde. It is one of the most phenomenal environments ever created for a game. Much of the game takes place underground in old tunnels, vaults, caves, storage areas, and a huge variety of buried rooms, but there are also many areas where you emerge and have to explore the city aboveground. The feeling of the game is very lonely, and the old abandoned town of Lea Monde is amazing to explore.

The amount of detail that was put into this game is just incredible, and it is evident at every moment just what a labor of love it was for those who made it. Not only is the game itself exceptional, but the plethora of details they incorporated makes it an all time classic. For example, on the map screen, every single room in the game (and there are a lot) has it's own unique name. There is one dungeon where every room (and there are at least 30) is named after an implement of torture! It's just great.

There is a huge variety of enemies, and an in game encyclopedia that fills up as you encounter them. Combat is very difficult, and it seemed to me at first even too difficult, but once you get the hang of it, this game has one of the most fun, and definitely most unique, combat systems ever devised. With each swing you take, you can choose where to aim on the enemy (left or right arm, legs, body, or head!), and depending on the enemy, armor, and what type of weapon you are using, you will have a different %chance of hit and damage. There are about 6 or 7 types of weapons (blunt, piercing, slashing, etc.) and a HUGE variety of different weapons within these categories. Within this there are different gems that can be attached to your weapons to make them more efficient against certain types of enemies, give them elemental attributes, etc.
Truly, this game has an almost intimidating amount of detail, but that's what makes it so great. You can armor all parts of your body, and every single weapon and every single piece of armor is customizable by combining lesser weapons and armor in workshops that can be found among Lea Monde. Materials range from course materials like wood and iron early in the game to silver and platinum materials later. Weapons have to be created and specialized in for different creature types. For example, I usually had a spear I used against dragons, a holy mace and a holy dagger for undead and zombies, and an axe that was most effiecent against humanoid creatures. Plus, you can actually name every weapon you create, which adds an awesome finishing touch to your arsenal.

There is so much about this game that is great that I could go on for another hour and hardly scratch the surface. This game is thought provoking, its deep, and it is CHALLENGING. Not for wimps! There is so much to explore, so many hidden features, such endless customization, this game just never gets old. And, it has a new game plus feature, so you can replay it with all the skills, equipment, and magic you've acquired. Damn, I didn't even touch on the magic...there is a huge variety of magic spells you can learn as well!
I've played through it probably 3 times over the past few years, and it remains fun every time I play, and I still haven't maxed out Ashley Riots potential.

This game may not be for everyone. It is hard, confusing, and very deep. But for those of you that love fantasy games, a good story, great characters and dialogue, tons of character/equipment customization, and a big challenge, give this game a try. You can get it for cheap now, and even though it's a little dated, it may be one of your best game purchases in quite awhile.

On a final note, I'm thrilled to know that the people who are responsible for this game and for Final Fantasy Tactics are the main creative force working on Final Fantasy XII right now. It should be phenomenal! I can't wait.

Both Good and Bad
I hardly even know where to begin when it comes to an overrated game that turns out to collect dust in my room.I bought Vagrant Story over a year ago.Tried it, like the battle system, and then found myself hating it.

The game play goes as follows: You start in a dungeon...there are cut scenes from time to time, but none of them make any sense...you run around by monsters and fight.You see the monsters as you are fighting them as there are no random battles.A menu pops up after you click near a monster such as, Head: 0, 100%, Right Leg: 2, 85% and so on.From there you choose which part of the body you want to attack.Sometimes you make NO hit points against the monsters because you have to work up your weapons for each type of monster.And it is impossible to make a master weapon against all monsters.More than one weapon has to be leveled up for different monsters, and many times weapons have to be changed in midst battle which is annoying.The other complaint I had in this game is that the only way you can heal yourself is either finding a save point or using a curing item.This doesn't sound so bad, but curing items CANNOT be purchased.Instead they only can be found fighting monsters.I never seemed to have enough curing items.By the end of the game, things still didn't seem to make sense.The conclusions were unsatisfying and overall pain in the neck.

The last complaint I have of this game is the feeling I got from playing it.The color scheme is bad.Everything was shades of brown or blacks and occasional greens and reds.It was a depressing feel to it, and it seemed like I never saw the light in that game.

However, I can still give this game some credit.I believe that it was an attempt of a good thing.There were bad qualities about it that if only fixed a little, this game could've been great.The battle system was actually fun at times, but when things got tough and a new type of monster approached, it took way too long to level up a weapon.
I thought for its time, the cut scenes looked nice.There are no special movies throughout the game, just a short one as an intro before you start your game up.

It is possible to enjoy this game.I found myself struggling through it, but I knew a couple who actually half ways liked it.It isn't a masterpiece in my eyes, but it had potential I think that didn't see the light of day.

Pros:
Innovative battle system
Well done cut scenes for its time
New Game Plus + feature

Cons:
Dull game, hardly any change of scenerybesides dungeons and boxes
Confusing Plot - (yet it was deep)
Bad color scheme: browns, browns, tans, green,and more browns
Annoying weapon level up system

Estimated time to complete game in a quicker runthrough: 20 - 30 hours.
Detailed gameplay estimated time to complete: 30 - 50 hours.

Wonderful story, lots to do and challenges Plus
Vagrant Story is the story of Ashley Riot, a Riskbreaker withsupressed memories.As you progress through this game you acquire memories, not only of battle skills and break arts but of your past.But are those memories of your family reliable?Were they planted, but by whom and why?VS's story will grab you by the throat, twist and turn and still have you wondering what happened at the end.
To some, the idea of making your own armour and weapons sounds tedious, but the reality of it is something else. It's great to see something you've created in action against a knight, a dragon a tough Boss.So take the time to read up on this part of the gameplay.
The graphics, although somewhat dated now, are still excellent.The music is captivating.I would, however, have preferred actors to play the character's voices and thereby imbue them with life rather than having to read every nuance and gasp.
My only negatives of this game are the slot-machine way of increasing skills and the beatability of it. Without a doubt it's the most difficult game I've ever played and, I felt, needlessly so.Don't get me wrong, I like a challenge, but I'm not keen on impossibility, which in all honesty I felt it was - in fact I couldn't complete VS game without cheat codes.And that, for me, was a decided negative and why I didn't award it 5 stars.
So if you like a good game with a great story that's a challenge to your skills as a player Vagrant Story will cover all that and more.

Most fun to be had on Playstation
For me this is easily the best game on playstation. Though we have moved on to the next generation of videogaming, it is hard to not go back to this game. The story is deep, the game mechanics are genius and the graphics out do all other psx games out there.

This game differs from your standard rpg in sense of how the game is played. There is no leveling up, no towns to visit, or world map to explore. Also the fighting system allows you to have total control. Knowing your opponent is key to beating them. The enemy is divided into classes and you must fight according to their strengths and weaknesses. For ex. if your opponent is a dragon you will have to beat through their tough scales or find a way around them and find a weak point. The enemies aren't your average cannon fodder either. They hit and run, cast spells and play keep away. They will draw into a corner and gang up on you or get you in the open area for an ambush.

With enemies that actually use brains and brawn you have to be prepared. This is where the game shines. The weapon and attack system. You start with your basic weapons and armor. As you progress you pick up better stuff and eventually be able to make new weapons and armor. Combining your old stuff you can literally make a new item. I've spent hours combining weapons and armor. Realistically as you use weapons and as your armor takes damage it loses its' strength. At the shops you can also make repairs to your inventory. The battle sysstem is tedious but fun once you get the hang of it. You draw your weapon and a sphere surrounds you. Depending on distance and SIZE of enemies and the range of your weapon you can target body parts. Taking out legs can slow and in some cases immobilize the enemy. Warning this does work both ways so protect yourself. You can cast spells on the fly by use of a quick pop up menu activated by pressing a few buttons. Also as you defeat more enemies you gain break arts, attack and defensive draws that will keep you alive in close battles.

My only complaint is that this game is not for everyone. Many will get bored with the slow beginning or find the weapon system to complex to get involved. Most of all that there is no voice acting. I personally favor the text reading but most will find that outdated. In any case this game is hard to fault once you really get involved and is hard to put down. It never got the publicity it deserved, so few will tell you that they have heard of the game. But do not let that discourage you by any means. If you can find a copy get it. If you have the patients to get through the first hour for mainly learning the gameplay mechanics you will not be disappointed. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Featuring a new adventure that's filled with numerous enhancements andinnovations, this long-awaited sequel to Pokémon Red, Blue,and Yellow greatly improves upon the series' winning formula, and makesfor an even more insanely addictive and wholly absorbing gaming experience.

Like Pokémon Gold--which essentially is the same story, with minorgameplay variations--Pokémon Silver casts players in the familiarrole of a young Pokémon Trainer who's out to collect as many differentkinds of Pokémon as possible. As in previous games, gameplay consistsmostly of exploration (completing various quests in the process) andPokémon battles, which employ a unique battle system that's like acomplex twist on rock-paper-scissors.

But, despite the similarities, it's quite apparent that PokémonSilver is a whole new ball game from the start. The game is played out inreal time, with the current time and day of the week (recorded by an internalclock) having a direct impact on gameplay elements, such as what Pokémonyou'll find in the wild, and when certain events occur and characters appear.

While there are too many new and improved features in PokémonSilver to list here, among the highlights are 100 new Pokémon(including two new types), new evolution processes (including breeding), and amore streamlined game interface that has better-organized menus and buttonshortcuts.

Although it's easier to progress in Pokémon Silver than in theprevious games, the sheer amount of fun and game time that's involved isdaunting. You'd be hard-pressed to find a better value than this one. --JoeHon

Pros:

• Insanely addictive and wholly absorbing gaming experience
• Time and day of week impact gameplay directly
• Bevy of new features and hidden secrets
• Improved graphics and more streamlined game interface

• Minor compatibility issues when using Game Link with previous versions

Reviews (157)

Pokemon Silver
This game is really fun!It has a varity of objectives.There
is a lot of cool Pokemon.You even get a cellphone.There is a huge area in this game.If you like long games this game is for you.

i'm confuseddddd?!@>@
is this game like the other versions,yellow,red,and silver?+the other ones,is it the same game or not?!>@#

Answers to above reveiw.
You dont need a dragon pokemon for the 8th badge. When you beat clair, she asks you to get the dragon fang, located in the dragon cave above the gym. you need surf and whirlpool to get to it. upon grabbing it, she will give you the badge. If you want a dragon pokemon, you can either fish for it in that same cave (use super rod) or buy it from game corner like i did early on.You get a dragonite by evolving dragonair at level 50 i think, but its not worth it, it just learns the same moves and gains more weaknesses. To beat the guy in radio tower, i assume you mean the fake director, just use strong pokemon. you see lance again as the champion when you defeat the elite four. beat him and you end the game and enter the hall of fame. You mean the waterfall? easy use the hm move waterfall on it and youll climb it. If you mean Lt.Surge in vermillion city, after beating the elite four, go to professor elm after he calls youand get ss ticket, then use it to sail to kanto from olivine city. then once there use cut on the bush next to the gym and enter to fight him.7 badges is good, but try and get all 8 then beat the game and continue to kanto. This is true, but it takes days to train a pokemon that much, and by lv.50 you have to be battling the elite 4's pokemon or it will gain 1 level every couple days because it isnt getting enough exp. If your pokemon are this low by now use the duplicate cheat explained later on. Having the bike is good, but by then you should have every hm, but shouldnt be able to use waterfall until beating the 8th gym.You can win without a dragon pokemon, their just more effective. Try using gyrados's dragon rage. itll help.You dont actully need one. Clefairy can, but dont use them up. You only get a few.OK. To duplicate have the item you want to duplicate held by a pokemon, which will also get duplicated.go to any pokemon center, walk to in front of the pc, save, go to bills pc and deposit that pokemon then change the box, except when it gets to the screen saying SAVING... DONT TURN OFF. turn off the power. turn it back on and you should have the pokemon in your party and the box. Its been duplicated. If you have further questions, e-mail taylorsteele@shaw.ca. your welcome.

I NEED ANSWERS!!!!!!!!!
OK first how and where do you get a Dragon POKE'MON for the 8th gym badge!!Two..how do you get a Dragonite!!! 3..how do you beat TEAM ROCKET in the Radio Tower!! Oh yeah... do i get to see lance (the guy who helps you beat team rocket by the Lake of Rage), do i get to see him again!???! 4.. how do get past the raging waters in the first cave you walk into to KAHNTO!! and how do you get to gym leader 9!! RIGHT NOW I HAVE ONLY THE FIRST 7 BADGES. MY TOP POKE'MON CYNDAQUIL IS AT LEVEL 47!! I HEARED THAT IT CAN GO TO LEVEL 100!! I NEED ANSWERS!!! PLEASE!!!
MY SECOND TOP POKE'MON IS A RED GYRADOS AT LEVEL 32~ I HAVE SURF, FLY,THE BIKE AS MY TRANSPORTATION.I AM STUCK AT THE GYM LEADER #8.I CAN'T EVEN FACE HER!! I NEED A DRAGON POKE'MON!! WHICH POKE'MON CAN USE MOONSTONE!! ME AND MY 8 YEAR OLD COUSIN REALLY NEED HELP AND ANSWERS!! PLEASE!!

The best game in the series
Pokemon 2 (Gold and Silver versions.) The second installment in the Game Boy Pokemon RPG series.

Nintendo's Pokemon franchise became a massive success in its native Japan relatively quickly. Although it took the franchise a little longer to catch on in America, it finally did catch on, and when it did, it took the nation by storm. Pokemon games and products sold like crazy, despite the fact that the franchise was virtually unrecognized in America at its time of release. Finally in the late summer/early fall of 2000, the second games in the series got an American release. How does Pokemon 2 measure up? Read on for my review.

PROS:
-THIS GAME GIVES YOU MORE OF THE SAME MONSTER CATCHING AND BATTLING ACTION THAT YOU HAVE GROWN TO LOVE IN THE FIRST GAME. To put it simply, if you liked the first game, it's quite unlikely that you won't like this one.
-THE GAME GRAPHICS ARE DRASTICALLY IMPROVED OVER THOSE OF THE PREDECESSOR TITLES. In this game, the graphics are not only improved, but the game is also optimized to make usage of Game Boy Color and Super Game Boy enhancements.
-IT'S NOT JUST A REHASH OF THE FIRST GAMES. Although the game uses the same general formulas, the game is entirely new, and the world is much larger this time around. Beat the game, and you can even go to the continent where the original game took place!
-NINTENDO DESIGNED THIS GAME WITH PLAYER CONVENIENCE IN MIND. Remember how in the first game you had to go through all those menus just to use an item (like your bike or fishing pole?) Well, in this game, you can set the select button to use an item! This really comes in handy and speeds up the general flow of the game.
-TONS OF NEW CREATURES AND ABILITIES. The original games had roughly a hundred and fifty-one creatures, and these games give you roughly a hundred new ones! This is too cool.
-THE GAME HAS AN INTERNAL CLOCK THAT KEEPS TRACK OF THE TIME OF DAY AND THE DAY OF THE WEEK. Different events happen at different times of the day and on different days. This makes the game all the more appealing.
-YOU CAN TRADE WITH ALL OTHER POKEMON RPG GAMES THAT PREDATED THE GAME BOY ADVANCE ONES. This will make it easy to get your hands on certain creatures from the old games. In fact, some the old creatures DO NOT appear in these games, so you're gonna have to do some trading to complete your Pokedex.
-THE GAME INTRODUCES THE CONCEPT OF BREEDING POKEMON. If you get a male and a female Pokemon together at the Daycare center, they just might lay an egg! This concept is necessary to get many of the new "baby" Pokemon in the game.
-THE GAME INTRODUCES TWO NEW POKEMON TYPES - DARK AND STEEL. Adding in the new types means you're going to have to rethink your gaming strategies - or create new ones entirely! The new types only add to the overall fun of the game.

CONS:
-MINOR COMPATIBILITY ISSUES WHEN TRADING WITH OLDER GAMES. For example, you can't send the new Pokemon species into your older game, nor can you send old species that have new moves. This is bound to get on your nerves, believe me.
-THE MYSTERY GIFT CONCEPT IS FLAWED. If you and a friend own a Game Boy Color, you can use Mystery Gift with your infrared ports to each get a random item, once a day. The only problem is that this requires a Game Boy COLOR - The Game Boy Advance doesn't have an infrared port!

OVERALL:
Pokemon 2 is, to date (as of July 4, 2004), the best game in the Pokemon series. In my mind, these games are even better than the new Game Boy Advance games, Ruby and Sapphire. If you can find one of these Pokemon 2 games in your local used games store, they are well worth picking up. Pokemon games aren't likely to get a whole lot better than these ones. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Rez, the action shooter brought to you by Tetsuya Mizuguchi (the talent behind Space Channel 5 and Sega Rally), is a fast-moving, wire-frame adventure backed by industrial beats. The story of Rez takes you deep into the world's computer network, which has recently been updated to handle the overload of information brought by the rapid expansion of the information age. The core of the new network is known as Eden, an extremely advanced artificial intelligence.

But problems begin when Eden becomes self-aware and suffers a breakdown. You must take control of the network while you manically search for Eden to bring it back online. The network was built to keep intruders out at all costs, so you'll have to fight off enemies from all sides. To reach the system's core, you'll need to shoot your way through each area and take out its specific firewall (boss) to wipe out that part of the system. By hacking the system, you'll alter the visual output and even take over the music, creating your own rhythms and eye candy as you dig deeper into the dreamlike cyberworld. ... Read more

Reviews (38)

Synesthesia
Rez is a game based on the concept of synesthesia originally penned by painter, philosopher and drug addict Kandinsky.Synesthesia is when you experience one of the five senses through multiple senses simultaneously, such as seeing and feeling music, or hearing and feeling color.

Although it's an odd starting place for a video game it works brilliantly.Rez is a "stuck on rails" shooter (your character flies on a pre-determined path while you shoot things) that incorporates this concept very well.As you lock on to and shoot enemies, their explosions add to the music playing in the background and create visualizer-style effects on the screen.All the while, the controller and environment are pulsating to the rhythm of the game.

I have introduced this game to several friends of mine and they are typically overwhelmed by the experience.Couple that with the existentialist science fiction story line of the game and Rez rises to the level of art.

While the graphics are mostly simple wireframes, the integration of the audio and visual aspects of the game are beyond anything you can find in any video game.Although it's on the short side, there are a ton of extras to unlock that add lots of replay value.My brother and I already treat it like a classic, and I'm sure we'll still hook up the PS2 years from now to play it.

One of the greatest games on the Playstation
Theres always that game that comes along that just amazes you so much that you want to keep on playing it. Rez is an amazing game thatmakes other shooters boring and dull.
Rez is much more than just a simple shooter,. It delivers an experience that few games deliver. Rez will stay with you long after you put down the controller, and you will look forward to your next chance at playing it. The visuals are as amazing as the audio, there is a whole lot of replay value in this game.Rez is only for a single player, but sometimes the best games concentrate on only one. It's the kind of game that can't be defined by a single genre, but ends up being a unique title that every gamer should experience.
It stands as an example of human creativity, merging with technology to produce a world that's nothing less thaamazing

Save Her, Who Is Still Trapped In The System
I wrote a review previoiusly for this game, giving 5 STARS despite of its relatively short length, simply because I thoroughly enjoyed it. It has been few years, and I felt like playing it again after midnight; and it's 2:20 right now.Gosh, I just can't help but to come back here again to tell you how incredible, overwhelming, nostalgic, wonderful,... I don't think any of these adjectives does justice for this needless-to-say masterpiece. I consider only two games in my life as something almost divine; Ico and Rez.

The main reason I'm writing this review AGAIN is to warn those who finished game with only first 4 areas.Yes, it's true that you can finish this game and get the ending with 4 areas.However, if you are putting this game away after that, then you are making a big mistake here. I did exactly same thing, putting it away after finishing first 4 areas, which was nevertheless exhilarating experience.

MAKE SURE TO UNLOCK THE LAST AREA, WHICH HAS TO BE THE MOST AWE-INSPIRING PART OF THE GAME, PERIOD.

I know that this game costs alot these days, however, it's worth your money especially for those who want to 'experience', not just to play video games (Dreamcast version is also available). I get soaked with this strange feeling (after finishing all 5 areas straight), which I get time to time when it triggers the human's basic intrinsic questioning of its existence; who am I? where did I come from? Why am I here? Seriously, this is no video game; its existence is beyond that.You can't help but to be immersed into the world of Rez, the world of synesthesia.

save her, who is still trapped in the system.

please.

Proof that video games can be art
Even as a fan of games and a former employee of a video game company, I have seldom seen games that can conclusively be considered works of art.

This game is one of them. Don't even bother calling this game a ' on rail shooter' or what have you, this game is what it is.

What starts off as a simple shooter grows in depth the more you play. At first the game seems only to provide five levels of play, but this game awards advancement in appreciative and subtle ways. Even years after buying this game, it continues to surprise me. Numerous endings, a surprising story that at first is far to interfused to notice, new options, new modes and an intellegence that directly varies to your abilities are the great highlights.

And of course, the look.
And of course, the music.

A Landmark in Games and Computer Science
When has a game been this imaginative in terms of creativity? Only Sega dares to make artsy, experimental, avant titles like this, and they succeed with flying colors. Not only is the soundtrack phenomenal, the graphics are arguably the best and most complicated on the PS2 to date. The backgrounds are basically giant oscilloscopes that subtly respond to, move and cycle effects and colors according to music and player interaction. It works so well that you don't notice it while you are playing. It's no wonder why this game was code named "The Kandinsky Project" from it's inception. Try playing it while high or intoxicated for a real good time. And try to find that "trance vibrator," (a plastic toy that plugs into the console and vibrates with the game) while you're at it.

From a computer science standpoint, this is all amazing because it is generated on the fly in real time. The graphics and effects are so complicated that the game actually ran very slowly on the original Dreamcast edition of this game. ... Read more

Features

• Experience the bone-chilling shoot 'em up action of Vampire Night
• Take on the role of the vampire hunter and blast away evil vampires
• Includes a special training mode to practice your skills
• Explore the adventure mode and other hidden features
• Designed for use with Guncon 2

Reviews (14)

cool game
this game is better than time crisis that all i can say.

Don't waste your time or money
Boy am I glad that this was only a hire!When you've cracked a game after playing it for less than three hours you really would have to be pi$$ed off if you paid full price for it.Okay it may look pretty and it may be a decent replication of games like House of the Dead and Time Crisis but really once you've gone through and beaten the big boss what else is there to do.

Apart from the lack of longevity I have a few other complaints about the game.Firstly the shop systems, basically the point is to collect ingots of silver hidden in boxes and crates throughout the game and use them to by things like weapon upgrades extra credits and stuff.My friend finished the game and still didn't manage to collect enough silver to buy a single item!What's the point of having these things here if you don't need them or never use them?

Secondly I was a little disappointed with the graphic quality.The colours and polygons don't really seem to make use of the PS2s enhanced capability when compared to games like Smackdown of FFX.The final story sequence after you have clocked the game is particularly poor.

Overall definitely not a game you should go and buy.Your thumbs will probably never forgive you for the endless, frantic, button tapping firing off endless rounds of ammunition. Really if you want to play a game like this go to your local arcade and drop a few bucks in House of the Dead.

Love this game
Although short(is there really a "long" Guncom game?),this game is loads of fun and beautifully done.Worth every penny.

More Gothic Gun horror
Vampire Night seems like the PS2 owner's consolation prize for not being able to play "House Of The Dead 2", but don't worry it's just as good as that masterpiece...well almost.
First of all, the graphics are fantastic, better than arcade contemporaries "Ninja Assault" and "Confidential Mission", which also have console conversions. The style is best showcased in the first chapter with some superb depictionsof winter sunlight on a frozen lake. Luckily, even players who [stink] at the game can get to see this! But the impressive visual style carries on all the way to the end, which is refreshing, as in some gun games, the levels seem to get less interesting. Maybe the designers feel that most players will never get any further than the first stage when playing in the arcade, so they don't feel it's worth the extra effort!! The enemies and townsfolk are also realistic and well animated, and the design of the Vampire's castle is fantastic, full of grandiose chambers, giant towers and lofty walkways, all depicted in elaborate detail.
So, what about gameplay? Well, its all pretty standard, and if anything, its an easier game than HOTD2, so you could be facing the final showdown after not too many attempts. But the boss battles are better, because they display an "attack bar" as well as a life bar for the boss, so you can see how close you are to being lamped, and can blast accordingly. Some of the bosses, especially the first, come in more than one stage, often morphing into a different shape during the fight. The first boss is a particulary impressive encounter, with three entirely seperate phases to play through - a great idea. On the downside, there are fewer alternate routes through the game, which is a pity. Of course, the extra modes are usually what makes a lightgun game live or die in the console market, and I quite enjoyed those on offer here. The training sesion is, as seems to be the standard now, horrendously difficult, much harder than the game itself, so plenty of challenge there. And the Mission mode gives you a special objective to look out for each time you play through the story, such as finding lost treaure, or opening secret doors that do not appear in Arcade mode, so that can be fun too, as there are around 20 different missions to complete. Plus,you trade the special items forund in this mode at a shop, and can buy power ups and attachments with money earned. There's even a gallery of artwork and character biographies to browse through.
To sum up, "Vampire Night" is a slick and polished lightgun game that lives up to it's expectations, and a good alterantive to "House of the Dead 2", so fans of the genre will be very happy with it. It's just a shame that only Dreamcast owners can enjoy the very best of the lot

topgun
I like this game because, you shoot the undead. ... Read more

Features

• Cool background and setting art
• More hours of gameplay than most RPGs
• For 1 player
• RPG featuring kids on their own
• Real-time battle system keeps things interesting

Reviews (34)

Love This Game
This game was great. Not only is it multi player but the battles are actually fun while keeping them quick. The story is one of the best for an rpg that i have played through and the characters are quite entertaining with very funny dialogue. One of the first rpg's i ever bought for 15 bucks actually too bad it didnt come with a manuel.
Great game though but if anyone is welling to sell me a game manuel i will pay u however much u want for it ^_^. thank u and buy this game now!!!

This may be a very old game but it is FUN
The graphics might look bad compared to current day game graphics but this rpg is just plain fun. There are slightly different versions but they are all basically the same thing. As for the story line, some people love it and others don't but it's not one of those 'nothing goes wrong' story lines, you will want to get through the tough parts of the game to see what will happen next.

It's quite an average length for a game but it can take some people a while to figure out what to do, luckkily it is not hard to find free online guides that will help you through the game if you can't figure it out. There is only one aspect of the game that just isn't so wonderful, the world map, it has a terrible worl map but atleast it gets the job done.

This makes a unique rpg because you can put things in you 'food sack' that could raise or lower some of your characters abilities or status effects, but they will not starve if you leave it empty. Also there are plenty of side quests and tasts you can complete for people as you make your way through the story, including a secret ending which hardly anyone knows about (try doing a search for it)

The battle system is simply incredible, many things can go on at once and there's even a special way to get more than one player to join you in battle. It's a real time battle system that gives you a fun experience with plenty of beautiful spells and special abilitys to stare at. You can command certain characters to only focus on weak or strong enemys, defence, or to just heal. While the other three characters either do the spells or abilities on their own or do what you told them to, you use your codtomized controller buttons to use certain abilitites. A god example is that eventually you cna throw your sword at and enemy cause damage but then all you can do is kick and punch until you retrieve it. And if you ever get tired of the same voices saying the same spells then you can switch their 'swordians' and hear whole different voices for different spells during the battle.

You can always change any character's name anywhere during the game, that way you dont have to be stuck with the original names like in final fantasy.

This game is very enjoyable even if the characters are semi-small almost anyone can enjoy playing it and I highly reccomend that you buy it! it is an excelent game that may be rated T for teen but i played around when I was nine years old so i dont thinkyou really need to worry about that too much. If you're considering it for your children then it would be a good idea because there's alot of reading so they won't be completely lazy. (im a 'child' myself ^_^)

Just buy the game, its fun, its cheap (i saw a copy in stores for $120 because tis kinda hard to find) and its just worth buying

Very nice
This was the first non-Square RPG I really got into, and I've loved every minute of it.This game has several things that I personally enjoyed the most:
1) It's a cartoon- I've always preferred cartoony, anime-style characters to realistic characters.The appearance of the people lightens some of the darker parts of the story.
2) Very innovative- The battle system is a mixture of good old fashioned spell menus and item lists and fast-paced roughhousing with button combinations; it's like mixing "Final Fantasy" with "Street Fighter."
3) Awesome story- The story isn't anywhere near as developed as something like "Final Fantasy Tactics," but it's solid and ensnaring.I was on the edge of my proverbial seat the entire time.
4) Voices- This game hasn't been butchered by lousy English voice actors, and everyone's sound bites are still in their original Japanese. For some reason, game voices sound cooler when you don't know what they're saying.

So, if you're looking for a great game, this is definitely for you.I extremely recommend this one.

An aswome RPG
This game ROCKS! Even the graphics and story rocks! And the game
is 2 player compatible(4 players possible with multiplayer adapter).

The best part of the game is the battle system, even though its like Tales of Phantasia's(Another Japanese Rpg made by namco) battle system its still fun to play. Expecially the
4 player battle system rocks.There are tons of attacks and spells
to choose from and the battle is real time sidescrolled, like you
can slice, jab, uppercut with you controlling the character and moving around. There are a lot of weapons and armor to choose from.

...P>Now I wont spoil the story/plot but I'll give you a 10/10 rating for the game.

Thanx for reading I'm Raed.N.Enany.

An aswome RPG
This game ROCKS! Even the graphics and story rocks! And the game
is 2 player compatible(4 players possible with multiplayer adapter).

The best part of the game is the battle system, even though its like Tales of Phantasia's(Another Japanese Rpg made by namco) battle system its still fun to play. Expecially the
4 player battle system rocks.There are tons of attacks and spells
to choose from and the battle is real time sidescrolled, like you
can slice, jab, uppercut with you controlling the character and moving around. There are a lot of weapons and armor to choose from.

And if you are talking about the graphics, the might be 2D, but there still enjoyable enough...

Now I wont spoil the story/plot but I'll give you a 10/10 rating for the game... ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

The top-selling PlayStation game in Japanese history makes its way tothe U.S. in Dragon Warrior VII. Its creators include a trio of Japaneserole-playing-game legends--game designer Yuji Horii, music composer KoichiSugiyama, and character designer Akira Toriyama (who also created the popularDragonball and Dragonball Z cartoons and comics). At its heart,Dragon Warrior VII is an old-school RPG that eschews flashy graphics andsound effects in favor of a good story and dozens of gameplay hours. In somecases it succeeds in capturing the nostalgia of old NES and SNES RPGs, but inothers it hangs on too dearly to obsolete conventions. Still, this is one of themost value-packed games on the market, as it easily offers more than 100 hoursof gameplay.

Graphically, Dragon Warrior VII will not impress anyone. Even compared tofirst-generation PlayStation games this one comes off as ugly. The sound is amix of nostalgic MIDI bits from previous Dragon Warrior games andbeautiful new compositions by Sugiyama. The story progresses in a linearfashion, as the main character discovers new lands, each with its own mysteries,characters, and adventures. The job system adds immense depth to characterprogression, as players can learn skills from more than 50 classes, includingwarriors, clerics, jesters, rangers, dragoons, teen idols, and more.

As deep as the job system is, progress is hindered by laborious combat andinventory-management systems. It would have been nice if the development teamtried to implement modern gameplay mechanics with the rich Dragon Warrioruniverse. Because of its archaic aspects, the game will scare off those thataren't familiar with older RPGs. However, persevering gamers and longtime fanswill enjoy one of the deepest adventures on the market. --Raymond M.Padilla

Pros:

• More than 100 hours of gameplay
• Extremely deep job system
• Memorable characters

• Horrible graphics
• Poor interface
• Dull combat

Reviews (60)

This game makes Baby Jesus cry
The perfect one-word description of this game is "torturous". Yes, there are some cool parts every now and then, but they're buried beneath so much inane garbage that instead of making the game less terrible, they simply compel you to keep playing through this epic abomination. It's really not a good sign when I've played over 20 hours into the game and I still couldn't care less what happens to the main characters. They're a rather one-dimensional bunch, and to be honest, it strikes me as a bit strange how those chosen to "awaken the world" (or whatever you care to call the insipid, convoluted plot) could be so damned boring.

Ah yes, the plot. Some kids discover some ruins that take them back in time to where the world contained more landmasses, and one by one, they bring the land masses into the present. It could have been quite fascinating, but the different areas just don't feel at all connected. After you've "raised" the first few islands, no one in your hometown seems to care anymore. Basically, instead of being one fully involved story, it ends up being a bunch of half-assed little tales that I couldn't bring myself to care about. I've read that eventually the "Demon Lord" somehow gets involved, but I really have no desire to pick this garbage up again. I suppose the cut scenes are also worth mentioning. Like most of the game, they're quite awful. They make the characters look mildly deformed, at best.

On to the gameplay...repetition is the order of the day. The battle system in itself isn't that bad, but it does begin to grow quite tiresome. The class system, which could have been very cool, is executed rather sloppily. For one thing, the classes aren't exactly balanced, especially since a character's class has no bearing on the equipment they can use. Want a wizard wielding a huge sword and wearing immensely heavy armor? You can do it here. Also, I don't think the classes have any permanent effect on stats, i.e. there is a set number of points in each stat for all the characters and classes that is governed by level. As a result, a character who has been a wizard for most of the game will have an enormous strength increase if he transitions to a soldier. Unfortunately, his intelligence will plummet as well.

If this was all I hated about the game, it would at least be tolerable. Unfortunately, I've yet to metion the most banal aspect of it...the way new islands are unlocked. If you thought lame fetch quests were exclusive to platforming games, this game will prove you sorely wrong. Of those 100+ hours you'll spend playing this pompous trash, at least half of that will consist of seeking map shards that you will quickly come to loathe, as you have to collect the right ones in order to unlock new islands.

Now, this wouldn't be a big deal if they were all in meaningful places, such as being obtained after defeating a boss. However, they're not. Oftentimes you'll find them in such idiotic and annoying places, as in a bag in some random house, caught in a broken robot in a town sewer, etc. Sure, the game offers some guidance, but the trek back to the fortune teller (whose hints can sometimes be rather vague) grows tiresome quickly. As a result, the game is as much a sleep-inducing scavenger hunt as an RPG.

Assume from this review that I hate RPGs done in the "old-school" style, as that is not the case. Dragon Warrior II through IV were quite enjoyable games. In fact, they're a lot better than this snoozefest, so play them instead.

Why did I waste my money?

Do not waste your time (130 hours is what i spent) or your money ($50) on this game.Buy a good game, like FF Tactics or Xenogears, or do something productive with your money.I cannot believe that this is the best selling game in Japan.I have played every single FF game, and Xenogears as well as every other US released DW game.With all of the hype before this game, I had my hopes up for a decent game with old-school graphics.What I got was a story written by a third grader, a battle system that made me want to kill myself it was so boring, and no point of playing the game.Horrible.Pathetic.

A great game!
If you like involved RPG's, this is a great game for you.It's packed with tons story and side quests.Some reviews complained about the graphics, but they're not all that bad.It's what I'd expect a 3D Dragon Warrior game to look like.Besides, the music more than makes up for the slight lacking in the graphics department.The characters are fun and there's a bit of Japanese humor strewn about (I'm glad the translators left it in!).There are also some puzzles throughout the game, which helps break up the monotony of the random encounters.Anyone who has played the previous Dragon Warrior games on the Nintendo will probably experience a little nastalgia.Some elements of the game haven't changed much at all (slimes, clubs, leather armor, cheesy sound effects when using stairs, etc...).All in all, I highly recommend this game!

Dragon Warrior 7
Dragon Warrior 7 is filled with classic old school roleplaying based on the actual gaming experience as opposed to watching movies and cinematic breaks on many other newer games. This game retains the same battle engine and same format as the original 4 NES games only slightly tweaking and improving it. The graphics are slightly improved just enough to stay with the times as well. But Dragon Warrior was never about graphics, it was about the gameplay experience. This game has a great story, lots of play value(over 100 hours) and brings back that nostalgia of palying the originals.

Dangerously underrated and underappreciated.
At first glance when the average gamer starts this game, they wonder about this game's expectations.It boasts a hundred hours of gameplay, so that must mean that the graphics must be really good, right?Well, most gamers take one look at the graphics, fiddle around with the game for a little bit, and give up completely.I warn you, this game is not for those who are only out for the flasy graphics or the gameplay that's so simple any five-year-old could complete it in their sleep.This game is not simple-minded.No, it's not Final Fantasy:It's Dragon Warrior, and having a game that just screams "old school" and boasts about it for a ridiculously long time is absolutely fine with me.

As I already said, at first glance, this game is not particularly pretty to stare at.But if anybody spends enough time with the game, you'll tend to ignore this little minor detail.That's right: minor.This is Dragon Warrior, and the focus is on gameplay here, not making everything look pretty.The majority of the game focuses strictly on battle, where your strategic wits are most needed.Instead of today's "Attack, heal, repeat" strategy, you'll have to dig deeper if you want to come out of the battles alive.In other games in which spells that increase your attack and defense are practically useless, in Dragon Warrior VII, they are all but required.

As well, at first glance, the plot seems as linear as it could be.As the heroes of the game, you have decided to embark on a quest to recover lands lost due to an unknown evil via time travel.This may seem like a pointless game where it all seems like all you have to keep doing is go back in time and rescue the helpless people, then go to the next land, save it, and do it over and over again.However, the more time you spend with the game, the more this seemingly linear plot unfolds.The more lands you restore, the more you learn about this unknown evil.That seems to be the basis of most video games in general, but for some reason, this one seems that much different.Not to mention there is this one cruel and sadistic plot twist that will leave your jaw dropping and frozen in that position for an indefinite length of time.I will not mention what it is, for that would be spoiling things.

One thing that I haven't mentioned that should really be noted is of course the musical score.Koichi Sugiyama is the go-to guy, and has written the scores for the previous Dragon Warrior games.While the music for other games has a blatant techno-new age appearance, Sugiyama has decided to stick with a much more traditional, orchestral-based sound, and to me, that creates a really powerful emotional tool during crucial points of the game at times.It's really a great score, and really adds to the experience.

In conclusion, all I have to say is to give this game an honest chance.Don't dislike it because it isn't Final Fantasy, and it isn't as attractive-looking.Because of this misjudgment, most gamers are missing out on this remarkable, innovative gaming experience.You should play the game to experience what old school is all about, and will possibly be as close to an actual journey to rid evil as anything will ever be.Don't be one of the several gamers who have turned their backs on this game for trivial reasons.This game is that and much more.

You're missing out.Big time. ... Read more

Features

• Basic actions, Killer moves, linked combos, and spells for recovery and attack
• Learn skills and build up specialties
• For 1 player
• Join a group of young adventurers exploring mysterious happenings in deep space
• 3 battle modes: Standard turn-based combat, Semi-Active for intermediate players, and Full Active for advanced control

Reviews (89)

The best rpg of all time
This game has so many items (over 11000)! the graphics are really good for the time period it was made. the story is easy to understand. there are many characters to unlock while you travell around two vast worlds! you can always choose your battle type which makes this game more fun. there are three battle types full control no control and semi-control. these make the battles suit the person playing the game. once you start playing you wont want to stop thats a guarantee!

WOW
I love Final Fantasy, it has everything other games have, story and gameplay, but something on it wan't right, battles. Star Ocean, surpasses in every way, the conection of the story with Earth and not only imaginary world. Thect that humans have such an impact in the universe, the detail of the UP3. I'm not that far yet, still going to Aquios, but DAMN. its awesome, easier to control your health, of course if u use certain special moves u lose HP, but only makes an impact in the beginning while ur still weak. His character in the beginning seems kind a retarded but i'm starting to see a change, into a more competitive, no-rule-stuck up guy. I approve it, manufacturing, real battles, MAZES, HUGE... not like Final Fantasy that all u have to do is follow the trail... BUY, u wont regret it,
sorry this is for the new one...

An RPG with something that many lack...
All gamers have had the experence of playing a game (be it an RPG or anything else) they felt had its fair share of flaws, but has that one, very bright redeeming quality that makes all those flaws take a backseat to that one positive.

Star Ocean: The Second Story is one of those games. Star Ocean's appeal (at least in my case) can be summed up in a single word: combat. Star Ocean's combat system is probably the game's most notable feature. The real-time battle system, which has a very arcade-like feel to it, is a very enjoyable change than your standard-fair RPG battles. It's just so much fun to destory enemies with a volley a special attacks from you and your allies. The skill system is also a plus as well, increasing characters stats and developing other usefull, non combat skills.

Unfortunately, the rest of Star Ocean's elements aren't quite up to par when compared to the hustle and bustle of battle. Graphically, Star Ocean is behind the times no matter where you turn (excluding the FMV's). Actually, the game's graphic engine is very simular to a 1998 Square-Enix title, the often overlooked and bashed-to-no-end SaGa Frontier (one of my favorites - yes, I'm serious). The fact the game uses most of the same graphical tricks empolyed by a game two years earlier underlines this fact.

Storywise, Star Ocean 2 suffers another, slightly smaller blow. While the story is generally good, it seems to drag on until you reach the second disc, where you do more exploring and fighting and the story begins to unfold more. Characters aren't as developed as well in Star Ocean compared to other RPG's such as Final Fantasy or Wild Arms, though the game tries to make a very obvious effort to do this though the use of the private actions system (where you enter a location and your characters split up and you can talk to them on a one-on-one basis to discover more about them - this affects the outcome of the game in various ways). I will give the developers credit for trying though.

Musically, Star Ocean 2 has it's ups and downs. Some of the tunes can be quite annoying, but no game score is without it's duds. However, when you hear the battle themes played near the end of the game for the final bosses, which mainly are of heavy rock/metal variety, all is foregiven. Soundwise, the characters various soundbites during battle are cute at first, but become annoying really quickly (how many times can you remember Claude saying "that's around 50 points" after a battle - too many to admit when I'm sober).

Even with it's flaws, Star Ocean: The Second Story is an above average RPG. While I'm not sure if I would call it a "classic",I would recommend it to anyone who had the time or showed interest in the genre.

My Favorite Game
I love this game because of its great battle system and the characters you lern to love! I beat this game twice once with Claud and Once with Rena. Rena is a far better choose since u get Diaz. But the best charocter is Ashton. The story is sort of slow at first but once you get into things you should love it to.I am waiting for number 3 to come out and i just hope it's just as good as this one and i don't want to be disapointed.

GREAT!!!!!
This game is one of my most favorites. I haven't made it all the way through yet, but I simply love it.

The game has a few flaws. The voice acting is kind of lame, the story is WAY too boring at the beginning, and it seems pretty difficult at times.

The item creation part is the coolest. You can get tons of great items, foods, and weapons through this. In fact, the skills are so great that it's surprising the whole thing could fit on one disk long with the rest. Truly a great game. ... Read more

Features

• For 1-8 players over LAN or Internet
• The 3rd installment of the classic real-time city-building simulation
• Destroy hidden pirate lairs, build new towns and establish new trade routes
• Astutely trade the surplus from one region to those in need
• Grow your small towne into a major trading center

Reviews (8)

Strange Topic, Fun Game
Who knew that being a member of the Hanseatic League would make for a fun game?Anyone who figured out that zoning can be fun (SimCity), or pretending to have a real life can be fun (The Sims) knows that the topic can be unusual if the gameplay is there.In fact, games that aren't clones of other games are a welcome sight.Patrician 3 is a fun game on a topic few would expect to see in a game.

This is a trading sim.You start in Luebeck in 1345, with one ship, and build an empire.You buy more ships, set up trade routes, build manufacturing facilities, and try to keep the people of your hometown supplied with all of their wants and needs.Patrician 3 is probably most like Machiavelli: the Prince (AKA Merchant Prince).

The graphics are fine, once you recognize that their purpose is to present information.There's a map of the North Sea, and a map for each town.The battle graphics are serviceable, but don't look for 3-D like Pirates of the Carribean, there is an overhead map with icons.

Gameplay is what Patrician 3 offers.As one reviewer said, this is an oddly compelling game.If you like the genre, this is a "one-more-turn" experience on the order of Civ 3, though Patrician 3 does not have the replayability that Civ does. You can shuffle what cities are good at, and there is a campaign game, but each successive Patrician 3 game tends to be too similar to be playing it week after week.Nonetheless, you'll have plenty of fun before you tire of it, and you'll come back to it months later unlike so many other games.

Beware, however, that Patrician 3 is not supported on many laptops.I installed and ran the game fine, but when I tried to play again I could not initialize the graphics.Ascaron is very clear that they do not support laptops because of the limited graphics "cards" these typically have.

There are not too many changes from Partician 2, but this is a fine game for any new player who likes trade-and-build games, and any Patrician 2 fan who doesn't need a major overhaul to justify upgrading.

Plenty of new features make this worthwhile
The common criticism of this game is that it is merely Patrician II in some new packaging.Insofar as experienced P2 players will have no problem diving right into P3, I suppose that is true.However, there are more than enough new features in P3 that will challenge even an experienced P2 veteran's learning curve.

In particular, the new version guarantees that becoming Mayor or Alderman actually means something now.A mayor now has access to the town coffers, which means that if you are some sort of Hanseatic Boss Tweed, you can line your pockets with impunity --- that is, until the next election, when the citizens of your possibly bankrupt town may decide enough is enough and toss you out on your patrician behind.If on the other hand you are more civic-minded, the game now allows you (as both a Councillor & a Mayor) to contribute actively to the overall health & prosperity in the town.In P2, being a Councillor was largely symbolic --- you got to vote for Mayor once a year, and participate in the occasional Hanseatic vote, and that was it.As Alderman, strangely there was even less power to wield, so it never really represented a significant improvement of your fortunes.You are also given the opportunity to suck up to the local noble (or antagonize him, if you are so inclined).How you choose to deal with the local Prince can determine whether or not your town finds itself under siege.Sieges have also been tweaked to allow you a more active role rather than sitting by helplessly waiting to see if the attacking army will break through the gates.

Additions of civic buildings like a school & a mint allows you to have an influence on a town's growth, and the inclusion of Hanseatic missions providing for the contstruction of entirely new towns gives P3 an entirely new depth.The missions can sometimes be fairly straightforward, but they can also leave you struggling to provide the necessary resources --- a failed mission will leave you in extremely poor standing with the Hanse, so proceed with caution.

The ability now to save your shipping routes is a welcome time-saving addition.Less welcome (but accurate nonetheless) is the tendency of the northern ports to freeze solid during the winter months.Watch the ports freeze and then watch your finely tuned trading operation unravel all across the map --- what fun!

For those who find endless trading and management of municipal infrastructure to be a bit tedious, P3 now offers you more opportunities to duke it out with the pirates who seem to litter the north seas.Escorting fugitives and other travellers can find you in the midst of a battle with a pirate, and if you play it right, can provide you with a nice hulk for the low low price of a few sailors' lives.Hanseatic missions will also allow you to attack pirate hideouts which can sometimes involve fleets of ships blasting away at each other.The potential for violence and mayhem has vastly increased from P2, but strangely, the sea battle graphics still are rather primative.Anyone who has played Ascaron's "Port Royale II" knows that the sea battle graphics can be much better than what is found in P3.

Other inclusions such as raising a family may not actually improve gameplay, but it does personalize your game character a bit more, and that is a nice detail to be appreciated.All in all, Ascaron's tweaking has resulted in a game that is different enough from its predecessor to make it worth acquiring.Rest assured that the newest "Patrician" entry is still the all-consuming time-burner it has always been.Be prepared to devote a mininum of 2 hours each time you play it.

90% Same Game as P2
Patrician III is not much different than PII, so if you have PII don't buy this game.I enjoy playing Patrician, but the only useful feature this "new" version offers is the ability to save and edit your trade routes.Now for those of you who are new to Patrician games, you should buy this version.

I enjoy the historically based games that merge city building, battles and a touch of RPG all in one.In the beginning you have one ship and no reputation...As the game develops you can easily become overwhelmed in the micro managing of 15-20 different cities,Numerous ships, politics, housing, industry, and just plain old buying and selling of goods.

Many of the other reviews go into the specific historic issues as related to the Hanseatic league, but all you really need to know is you need to make money.Buy low-sell high!That is all you need to know to start.You trade goods from town to town with your ship(s).

As you begin to gain money and status, you will start to learn which towns need certain goods(Which I won't go into here), and then to build industries, housing, more ships, etc.Eventuallyyou become targeted by Pirates.The battle graphics are very basic and controls very low tech.I has hoping for an improvement from P2, but it is the same.Some battles take 15-20 minutes, esp. when you have to chase a badly damaged ship against the wind.Don't buy this game if you are into battles... I think they were an after thought.

My first P3 game is now 40 hours long, and I control 30 ships and have offices in 5 towns.I don't even turn the game on unless I have two hours to spend.I enjoy the game very much and try to automate as much as possible to allow me to keep an eye on the markets and fine tune trade routes for the most profit.My defenses are quite good to cover trading, and when a pirate attacks they are usually sunk or captured... but there goes another 20 minutes.You control the speed of the game, but as slow speed your trade routes will take so long you might look up and the sun is rising!!!

If you enjoy reading historical fiction and sim-city type games, then buy this game, but don't tell your wife... or husband.

You Will Enjoy This Game
For those of you who are looking for a game with depth this is it. It does take awhile to learn how to play the game but once you do you will enjoy it. You start out with a single ship and trade or fight your way to riches. You build up towns that you build offices in by suppling the town with various goods that you can buy in other cities or produce yourself. This is not a process you complete in a few hours. It's like a project that you work on for several nights. Set goals before you begin, such as how many people will be in the cities. I like to start in different towns and see how far I progress in say 10 years. Trying to do better than before. Each city is different and looks great. This game really makes you think and stratigize how to best build up your fortune.

Patrician 3 Not a Good Game
I saw this at a popular mall store and ended up buying it.It looked similar to Caesar 3,Civilization 3 and several other games of that sort. I always start a new game with the Tutorial.
It gives you several modes to play in from Sea Combat to City development and Trade to Political.It doesn't give you any sense of how to maneuver your ship or what reasonable goals would be for a starting player that has never played the Patrician system before.I have to hope that people who have played Patrician 1 and Patrician 2 can make it through it .I'm not sure that that's
enough to reccommend the game.At one point you have to hire a crew and it tells you to hire a crew but there is no hire button.There is also no Strategy guide available for this game.
I'm not talking about a cheat book,I mean a book that says Shift+H = hire .Wait til its in the $5 or less before you buy this. ... Read more